


Pegasus B ficlet

by raven_lore



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-15
Updated: 2009-11-15
Packaged: 2017-10-03 07:32:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_lore/pseuds/raven_lore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pegasus B ficlet

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Pegasus B universe created on livejournal by troyswann
> 
> Maraceles was really kind and beta-readed this. She made a great job and I'll never thank her enough for it. Any mistakes still there are just my fault.
> 
> My first fanfic and well, I think it shows.

Jack walked out of the briefing room resolutely, stopping just long enough to locate a certain scientist. Looking around quickly, Jack caught sight of him: the man was talking excitedly near one of the Ancient stations, pointing out the screen to someone half hidden behind it.

Jack moved towards them.

Weir had been unmovable on the subject: Jack required a scientist, whether he liked it or not. He didn't like it, of course. He didn't like the idea of taking civilians through the gate, and he hadn't liked it back at the SGC, either. Not with all the dangers out there just waiting to bite them in the ass.

But, at the same time, Weir was right and Jack knew it. Looking for offworld tech without one of their wonder geeks would have been nothing short of useless. At least this way, Jack said to himself, he got to choose his own trouble-magnet.

Jack reached his destination.

"Colonel!" the man said upon his arrival, looking up at him with surprise and confusion.

Jack rolled his eyes, the guy looked as though he was wondering what in the hell Jack could possibly want with him. "Doctor," Jack acknowledged patiently.

"Er, Colonel," the man repeated.

For a moment, Jack felt the urge to repeat 'doctor' once again, just to see what the other man would answer. He resolutely squished the urge down. "We've scheduled another round of reconnaissance missions," Jack finally told him, "and I'd like you to be part of my team..."

Jack stopped suddenly. He seemed to have lost the scientist's attention.

Again.

So _maybe_ his choice of dweeb hadn't been so good, Jack told himself. Maybe he should have chosen McKay, no matter their growing personal problems.

"Doctor Zelenka?" Jack asked, trying to regain the man's attention.

"Yes," the man said, looking back up at Jack.

There was a pause.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course," Zelenka said, continuing when Jack only stared at him. "I'll be happy to."

Jack looked intently at the other man. The scientist had put on a shy smile. Jack wasn't fooled by it; he could tell something was wrong. Jack wished he could see what was going on in the guy's head, and suddenly, the image of millions of little moles, each of them purposely digging caves in every direction of the scientist's brain, flashed through Jack's mind. It forced him to close his eyes momentarily; he could already feel a headache coming on.

"Good," Jack forced himself to say, opening his eyes again. "The first briefing is tomorrow morning, oh-nine-hundred."

"Tomorrow," the man repeated, nodding his head. "Oh-nine-hundred."

Jack could just _see_ another mole beginning to dig a new cave, bringing that information only God-knew-where.

"Right," Jack said impatiently. "I'll see you there."

Jack turned and left the gateroom, retreating before the need to play whack-a-mole got a hold of him.

***

_"It's gonna be a piece of cake, Doc. No need to fidget like that."_

The sentence kept repeating itself in his mind. Over and over again.

He was there again, babbling endlessly about the pros and cons of the experiment.

Where it went wrong. So wrong that the Colonel had to save the day.

Then they were in the infirmary, its silence broken by a monitor alarm. No pulse. Still no pulse. The medical team did everything by the book, but it was useless--they'd known it from the beginning. The alarm kept sounding. The voices were frantic.

The Colonel was dead.

***

Radek woke up with a start.

Inside his head, he could still hear all the voices and the alarm. He was breathing fast, too fast. He had to calm down. He knew it, just...

"Drink."

The voice was soft, and the glass of fresh water that was pushed into his hands was more than welcome.

Shaking, Radek took a few long sips.

It took some time, but in the end he was able to slow down his breathing. He pushed the trembling inside, where no one would see it.

"Better?" the voice asked.

"Ah..." Radek deliberated. "Yes. Thank you."

Radek didn't have to turn around, didn't need to know that Peter would be there, looking at him, waiting for an explanation. Peter was British enough not to question; the man would wait patiently for the answers to present themselves. Still, Radek couldn't bring himself to begin.

"Who's Colonel Kawalsky?" Peter eventually said.

Not so British, after all, Radek said to himself. Which spun his head into wondering once again about the man's true origins, because sure, he wore the UK flag, but his looks and his accent spoke of something more exotic.

"Perhaps I should go?" Peter asked softly, when Radek still remained silent. He didn't move from his spot by the bed, though, continuing to wait patiently for Radek to explain what had happened.

Radek sat up, placing his back against the wall, and took another deep breath. He was the one who had asked Peter back to his quarters, after all. He hadn't wanted to be alone. He hadn't wanted to think.

Dammit, Radek cursed inwardly. He missed Jonas.

He didn't miss the weather channel, though.

"Before coming to Atlantis, I worked at the SGC," Radek began. "It was good, really, lots of interesting things to research, and Colonel...er... General Carter really is as smart as McKay makes her out to be."

Peter nodded, remaining silent as he listened.

"One day, however," Radek continued, looking up at him, "she asked me to go off-world. They had met a new civilization on a planet named 'Langara'. They were a fairly technologically advanced civilization and seemed friendly. It should have been an easy trip."

He should have known better, Radek thought, shaking his head.

When had things ever been easy at the SGC?

"They were making experiments with the naquadria," Radek went on. "Colonel Kawalsky was my mission leader. He... he was a good man, fun to be with. He did everything he could to make me feel comfortable on my first off-world mission. He even kept me company while I wandered around the labs with Jonas. He actually listened to us."

Kawalsky had been nice; he hadn't even made fun of Radek's English. Radek had liked the man.

"The experiments were..." Radek trailed off momentarily, then forced himself to go on. "One of them went wrong, terribly so. It could have been a catastrophe, but the Colonel saved the day. Saved my life, only to die a day later, in the SGC infirmary. Radiation."

***

Peter kept still. He wanted to do something, but didn't really know what. He didn't even dare to sit by Radek. He... he just wasn't really good at comforting people. He'd come along for the movie and the company and...

"Thanks," Radek told him.

Peter looked at him, surprised.

"I don't..." Peter stopped, confused. "What for?"

Radek stared back at him, a soft smile playing upon his lips.

"You listened," Radek said. "It's not as if... it didn't happen yesterday, Peter. I'm over... well, not over it, but..."

Peter watched Radek take a deep breath.

"It's only that I haven't been on an off-world mission since that time," Radek told him. "I knew it would trigger all of this and... I didn't want to face this alone. So, thank you."

For a moment Peter could only stare. He really hadn't done anything. Hell, he certainly hadn't even possessed the most chivalrous of thoughts when he had agreed to meet in Radek' quarters, anything but chivalrous thoughts, really, if he was honest with himself.

When Radek had asked him if he wanted to see a movie together, Peter had agreed almost without thinking about it. And he hadn't even been very disappointed when "Would you like to see a movie together?" had revealed itself to be just that, a movie together with Radek falling asleep halfway through it and Peter thinking that he was cute as he slept.

"I'm sorry," Radek was telling him. "I suppose I took advantage of you."

Peter couldn't believe it.

"No," he corrected quickly. "No, truly. I'm... I'm very glad you asked." Was he babbling? " Are you...are you quite sure you're all right?"

Radek nodded and smiled again, this time a bit more convincingly. "Yes, thank you," he said. "I suppose I merely had to face it, remember it happened, no matter how much I have tried to forget about it."

"Good," Peter smiled back. "So, maybe now I ... I should, er..." and damn him if he wasn't really babbling. Better excuse himself before Radek could...

"Radek, are you ok?" Peter started to ask, and then looked at the other man incredulously. "Are you... _giggling_?"

"Sorry," Radek replied, waving him off. "It's only... I remembered Colonel O'Neill's face. The man must have thought he had made the greatest mistake of his life when he saw my reaction. I could swear I could see him getting a headache."

Then Peter was smiling as well, though not quite so exuberantly. He had already embarrassed himself enough for one night, what with the totally uncool babbling.

"I'll go then," Peter told him gently, getting to his feet. "You should probably sleep. You'll need to be rested tomorrow, if you want to give Colonel O'Neill another headache." Radek giggled some more, and Peter smirked.

He was almost through the door when Radek called after him.

"Peter," Radek said.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, really. And..." Radek looked uncertain. "Maybe we could do this again sometime? The movie and...well. Without, perhaps, the heavy stuff?"

Peter knew he ought to refuse--it was clear that Radek wasn't a one night stand kind of guy, and Peter himself...

But he just couldn't stop himself. "Sure," he said. "Anytime."

Then Peter stepped back, closing the door behind him and wondering all the while what the hell he was doing.


End file.
